Yahoo has a whole section on Work/Life health with some interesting stuff in it. I especially enjoyed some of the games describes in this article.
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Quote
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
– George Bernard Shaw
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Book review: Synchronicity
Synchronicity, the inner path of leadership by Joseph Jaworski is the story of his own transformation as a leader. From his earlier life (as he calls it) as a trial lawyer to his quest of identifying and promoting better leadership.
His transformation began, as it often happens, with a personal tragedy. Until his wife left him, he had been living what must have seemed on the surface a perfect life. He had a high-payed, challenging job, a nice home, a wife and a kid. But when it all came tumbling down, he realized that he hadn’t really been living. His life felt two-dimensional.
He has since then been through an amazing transformation which is described in the book in a no-nonsense, down-to-earth manner. He’s met, worked with and learned from people like David Bohm, Peter Senge and Arie deGeus, and the lessons are passed on in the book.
And mostly, it’s about openness. About realizing that everything in the world is connected. That ultimately the border we perceive between “self” and “not-self” is an illusion. It’s about not trying to control life, but letting life flow through you.
Jaworski argues that when you live life in this way, it feels like the world is constantly conspiring to help you along, and I can’t help but agree. I’ve taken a very similar approach to my work on the “Happy at work” project, and highly skilled and wonderfully nice people are constantly coming out of the woodwork to help. It’s a great feeling to be reliant on the world to help you, and to see that the world does.
The book is an easy and enjoyable read, and the story of Jaworskis gradual unfolding from slave to a job to servant of a purpose is well told and very inspiring. I recommend it highly.
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Nonviolent communication
Nonviolent communication (nvc) is an excellent tool, especially for communicating in difficult situations. Like telling an employee he’s fired, criticizing someones work or reprimanding a child.
The Center for nonviolent communication have an excellent overview of nvc.
Marshall B. Rosenberg, the man behind nvc says in an interview:
We call the language that we teach ?giraffe language,? though its official name is ?Nonviolent Communication.? I use the image of a giraffe because it?s a language of the heart, and a giraffe has the largest heart of any land animal.Unfortunately for myself, I was taught to speak ?jackal language.? You see, a jackal is closer to the ground. They get so preoccupied with getting their needs met that they just can?t see into the future like the tall giraffe. Jackals speak in ways that block compassionate communication, because they?re motivated out of fear, shame, and guilt.
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quote
There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.
– George Bernard Shaw
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Fun and earnestness
Den som kun
ta’r sp?g for sp?g
og alvor
kun alvorligt
han og hun
har faktisk fattet
begge dele d?rligt.Taking fun
as simply fun
and earnestness
in earnest
shows how thoroughly
thou none
of the two
discernest.Zwischen Scherz
und Ernst vermag
der nur scharf
zu scheiden
welcher gr?ndlich
missversteht
die Natur
der Beiden.Qui prend le jeu
rien q’uen jeu,
le serieux
aut serieux,
a m?compris
un tout petit peu
le vrait esprit
de tous les deux.– Piet Hein
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The 4th. sector
I was at a conference monday on the fourth sector. In case you haven’t heard about this term, the fourth sector is a way of organizing that combines the best of the three existing sectors, ie. private industry, governments and volunteer organizations.
Fourth sector organizations compete in the market like private companies, they work for a good cause and they often rely on a high degree of volunteerism.
And this is precisely true of the happy at work project. We make our money just like any other consulting company out there (we haven’t recieved a dime of public money, and we don’t want any). We strive to make people happy at work. That’s why we’re here. And we’re a volunteer organization, where everyone interested can join and contribute towards the cause.
The conference was arranged by my good friends over at grasshoppers.dk and was refreshingly different, with nice little touches like a clown welcoming guests and yoga-breaks throughout.
My main learning from the conference was, that the term “fourth sector” is flawed. There is no new sector and the organizations exhibiting fourth sector traits are found in the traditional three sectors. A fine example would be Kjaer Group, a danish company comitted to “making a difference”. They’re definitely a private company making money in the market, but they also work to make a difference in the world, individually and together.
So rather than being a matter of sector it’s a matter of intent or approach. Here’s my definition of a fourth sector organization:
A fourth sector organization, is one that does not see a contradiction between making a profit, improving the world and working voluntarily.So all we need now is a better term than “fourth sector”. Any ideas?
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I’m a clown
Yep, this sunday (feb. 29) the “happy at work project” arranged a clown course for some people, and I’m now a certified, first grade clown.
The story is this: Back in november, Lise Egeberg who is a hospital clown, asked around for contributions to a trip she wanted to take to Jamaica to visit schools, hospitals and orphanages and clown for the children there. It’s not like we’re swimming in money, but we decided to give her 1000$, and in return she gave us this training, and it was a lot of fun.
Starting from a simple warm-up, she soon had everybody tripping over invisible wires, giving gifts in the clown manner and making fools of ourselves in many other ways. It was great!
One exercise that made a great impression on me was about personal space. Take two people one walks towards the other, and the person standing still says stop, when he feels his personal space being invaded. When we did this normally, my personal space was a little less than a meter. But with the clown nose on, I had no personal space. I was not only comfortable with people getting really close to me – I was enjoying it. That was a powerful demonstration of the barriers we build around ourselves every day, and how clowning around and being more childlike can tear the barriers down.
And today after the course, I feel more open, more spontaneous and more alive. There’s a great power in clowning. Here’s a picture of the graduates.
